Friday, March 6, 2015

Blarney Blowover?

A sagacious Fade user (Anon of course)

After spending serious amounts of tax dollars for a free Mullins Center concert, beefed up public safety staffing and countless hours of input from the UMass PR department, will it all come together tomorrow for a, comparatively, positive outcome?

Well yes, of course it will. Mainly because you can't get much worse than what happened last year.

But the #1 reason, once again, will not be so much all the measure taken by Amherst and UMass officials and the excellent work of the Student Government Association. Or even all the breathless press attention this past week (the Gazette set a record for front page stories).

Environmental conditions, aka THE WEATHER, will play the major role in keeping a lid on rowdiness. The Townhouse quad just isn't the same if you have to wear snowshoes.

And the #2 reason will be a major police presence. I also notice on social media how students would prefer to deal with UMass PD over Amherst PD. And as long as they stay on campus that is all but guaranteed.

Although the LEOs they really don't want to mess with is Massachusetts State Police, who were out in force for Superbowl Sunday and like General MacArthur they "shall return."

Just for fun, in response to a silly "secret plan" hatched on BlarneyChat to party at Lot 25 near the busiest road on campus, I started a rumor it was going to be a landing zone for the MSP helicopter.

About an hour later a Fade user came up with a great graphic. Behold the power of social media, which cuts both ways.

Townhouse Apartments 9:30 this morning

Hitler had his Atlantic Wall, which failed to keep out the Allied invasion. Townhouse has a chest high concrete-like wall of snow completely encircling the quads, ground zero for Blarney bad behavior over the past three years.

17 comments:

Larry, with all do respect, as a self-proclaimed journalist with the utmost belief in truth and professionalism you should not be starting rumors. That act alone could be perceived as reducing yourself to the level of the "college aged youth", undermines your credibility, and shows the type of clear bias that is forbidden in the world of journalism.

I've been reading your blog for years and enjoy finding the information so often otherwise hidden in this little town. While I understand your reasoning for starting said rumor, the ends do not justify the means. I really want to trust what you write, not question its validity.

I saw that the t-shirt store in the Hampshire Mall is selling "Blarney Blowout 2015" gear. Disappointing, but maybe they won't sell many of them.

I am trusting (*fingers crossed*) that the colder temps, all the snow, the later bar opening hours, & the UMass-town plans for this weekend should all help make an out-of-control Blarney Blowout a thing of the past.

"That act alone could be perceived as reducing yourself to the level of the "college aged youth", undermines your credibility, and shows the type of clear bias that is forbidden in the world of journalism."

It's a question of personal & professional integrity, it doesn't matter where you did it but that you did it.

It's not unlike a high school teacher sleeping with one of his students, it doesn't matter if she was 18 or where he did it, or if he rented the motel room under a fake name -- the issue is that he did it.

Now if no one finds out, if neither one of them tells anyone, ever, that's a different story -- there are teachers married to their former students -- but Larry, you reported your misconduct.

And much as a teacher (or administrator) has to worry about Malden yanking his/her/its certificate(s) for "professional misconduct", you could theoretically loose your credentials, including that certificate from the court.

Don't do this sort of thing!!! It's not only sophomoric, it's downright stupid.

And how would you feel if some cops got hurt (or worse) because of your stunt? What if they needed to bring a MSP (or Lifeflight) helicopter down in a hurry and needed to secure a landing zone?

Lot 25 would not be a good one -- but if a couple hundred (or thousand) students think that is where the helicopter is going, they won't -- no matter how hard the police try to move them.

Larry, a helicopter at low altitude is loud & disorienting. Depending on where you are and how the blades are set, the rotor wash is either physically hitting you or you are in a surreal silence that I can only describe the way people describe being inside a tornado. Even sober kids will be more afraid of the helicopter...

This wasn't funny -- no more funny than pulling a false fire alarm -- you've potentially cost folks time that they may not have to spare...

"God Ed, you are such an idiot. They have landing zones designated in advance and are, you know, professionals at setting up for lifeflight. Try some facts, they are great!"

You mean like the two dead State Troopers (and two dead AT&T guys) who were planning to land on top of the BU Boathouse? Or to the Life-flight folks who intentionally ran out of either fuel or lube oil (I forget which) so they could go for a swim in Casco Bay?

For that matter, tell it to the USCG folks who put a 40-something foot boat on top of the Rockland, ME breakwater. (They hit it at full throttle...)

So there are designated LZs -- that mean that there won't be drunken kids in the middle of them? You want to stake *your* life on that???

And furthermore, why then is pulling a false fire alarm considered so serious an offense? Firefighters are professionals, they can quickly tell there is no fire there and then can respond to the other (real) fire, it isn't like the extra 10-20 minutes makes a difference, does it?

And as to the schmuck who threatened to violently assault me -- that is criminal you know. Even the threat itself is criminal -- even if you are a cop.

The Rockland (ME) breakwater is a mile long with an iconic lighthouse at the end of it. At high tide it is too low to show up well on radar --- but the lighthouse isn't and with radar reflectors on it, it shows up as a really bright dot.

A dot you have to keep to the right of until you go by it, and if you are prudent, you make sure you either see it or hear the foghorn, shutting off your engine if necessary, as radar can do some funky things on the edge of a fogbank.

(And if you are following the channel like you are supposed to, you will be to the right of the lighthouse...)

The USCG was responding to an emergency upriver (to the left) and wound up about a third of a mile to the left of where they should have been. Boat winds up on breakwater, crew flying downrange and winding up in the water with broken ribs and such.

Testosterone, machismo, and arrogant stupidity. Not only did they not rescue anyone, additional resources had to be diverted to rescue them.

When the first boat out of the harbor itself has to be rescued, the second boat has to stop to do this, leaving only the third boat able to respond to the initial distress call. Not only are you not helping the victim when you get yourself into trouble, you are actually taking resources away from the victim, resources other than just the ones you can provide.

Faking landing zones for the MSP or otherwise is exceedingly consistent with my expectations.

Larry is being smart and using propaganda to try and avert a violent situation. This is like jello wrestling without the jello. Get off his back, he is doing what he always does....presenting random and possibly factual information. You can't loose credentials for that.

Who are we kidding? Larry LOOOOOOOOOOOVES Blarney Blowout season. More clicks for his page, more opportunity to play the "hero" who will "save" Amherst in its "time of need". Damn, he's one step away from donning a mask and cape and delivering vigilante justice.